Jeremiah Neill
Marshal of the Reydovan Empire Jeremiah Robert Neill (born August 17, 2301 in Easthaven, Reydovan Prime) is a fictional character created by Joshua Underwood in the world of Star Trek roleplaying. Neill has been portrayed by Stephen Lang, known for his stage work as well as his film work, particularly his appearances in the American Civil War movies Gettysburg (as General George Pickett) and Gods and Generals (as General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson), since 2002. Underwood felt that Lang's performances - the eccentricity in some, the deadly seriousness in others - made a perfect combination for what he had in mind for Neill. Origins Neill has a long military ancestry. One of his ancestors was Colonel J.C. Neill, the commander of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, who was called away on personal business prior to the great battle against the Mexican army of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Another ancestor, James Robert Neill, had served the Confederacy in the American Civil War as a brigadier general in the Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia, serving in A.P. Hill's division in 1862-63 (when Stonewall Jackson was commanding the Second Corps), at Gettysburg under Jubal Early in 1863, and, most notably, during Early's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864. In more recent days, Jeremiah's father, Daniel, had been a Starfleet admiral - in fact, he had taken the vacant seat left by Kiran Joshmaul in the Starfleet General Staff when Joshmaul was removed in 2276. In 2298, Daniel Neill had led the Starfleet task force against the fledgling Reydovan Empire. Daniel was arrested, and forced to serve the Empire. He married a noble woman in 2300, and their first child, Jeremiah, was born on August 17, 2301. In his youth, Neill was considered to be a bully; academically, he suffered, but he was very athletic and exhuded a natural talent for leadership. Unfortunately, that talent went to street gangs in Easthaven. By his high school years, Neill's future was very much up in the air; he was very violent, always eager to hurt something. Someone who recognized this right away was General Daniel Longstreet, the commander of the Imperial Marine Corps. He interviewed Neill in 2316, and told him that if he managed to work on his academics, he would be able to meet the criteria for enlistment in the Imperial military; Emperor Joshmaul made it specifically clear that he did not want simpletons in his military forces. Neill accepted Longstreet's offer, and two years later managed to turn things around. In 2318, he graduated high school, and was able to enlist. Early Military Service Neill enlisted in the Imperial Marine Corps on June 15, 2318. Within a year, he was recommended by his commander for officer's training, saying, "We've got a general in the works here, you just watch." At the time, there was no military academy on Reydovan Prime, so Neill was sent to Earth, to the Virginia Military Institute - the school where his idol, Stonewall Jackson, had taught before the American Civil War. Neill became a quick learner at VMI, and graduated near the top of his class in 2322. He kept the old-style uniform and the old traditions, still used by VMI cadets today. When he returned to Reydovan Prime, he seemed more mellow than he had been, but the fierceness in his eyes made it clear that this was not a man to trifle with. The Sha'kurian War Neill's greatest triumph came during the Reydovan Empire's war with the Sha'kurian Duchies. He had started that war as a colonel, but was promoted three times over the course of that campaign. In the "Charge of Neill's Ninety" on July 1, 2349, Neill led a smaller fleet (originally of 100 ships) against a force of 350 Sha'kurian carriers and their fightercraft. Neill lost only ten ships, the Sha'kurians, almost all of them. Only 58 Sha'kurian ships were left to Neill's 90 when the Sha'kurian commander surrendered. He left the battlefields of the Sha'kurian War as a lieutenant general. Starfleet Service Jeremiah Neill resigned from Imperial service at the behest of his mentor, Daniel Longstreet, in 2372, and follows his nephew Jonathan Ross into the Starfleet Marine Corps at the rank of Major General. He is promoted to commander of the SFMC in 2375, following Longstreet's apparent death during the Battle of Cardassia. Neill was a longtime advocate of the Patton-class gunship project, intended to create a gigantic vessel with every form of weapon imaginable, designed to terrify an enemy into submission without firing a shot - and also designed for planetary bombardment when the situation called for it. However, it has been denied time after time by the chief of Starfleet Operations - his nemesis, Kiran Joshmaul. Neill was both ruthless and ambitious as commander of the SFMC, and aspired to free the Marines from the bureaucratic control of Starfleet Command in general, and Joshmaul (who abdicated after the end of the Dominion War to return to Starfleet) in particular. The two men had a falling-out when Neill insulted the Emperor for his unwillingness to aid the Federation during the war with the Dominion. His nephew, Jonathan Ross - a 28-year-old brigadier general - was his closest confidant and supporter during this time, even though Ross was beginning to have his doubts about Neill's performance due to his egotistical nature. What Really Happened to General Longstreet? Neill had come under fire for Longstreet's apparent death for months following the end of the Dominion War. He was investigated by Starfleet Command before his task force returned to Earth, but the results were inconclusive because of the major scramble following the bloody conflict. However, another investigation led by Kiran Joshmaul himself led to a very different story... It is widely believed that Longstreet did not die of his injuries, but was apparently betrayed by General Neill, via insiders in Longstreet's staff who wished to elevate Neill to the Commandant's post before Longstreet relieved him. Neill vehemently denies any involvement in the incident, citing that he was delayed by what he described as "unknown forces". An investigation of the logs onboard Neill's flagship, the U.S.S. Shenandoah, confirms that there was indeed an unknown force using Reydovan-style vessels favored by Artimus Devaneaux's forces during the Reydovan Civil War. The logo was the symbol of the Reydovan Empire with two crossed blades running underneath it; this has become known in recent days as Artimus' symbol, along with the "White Hand" which serves as the symbol of his footsoldiers. Could it be possible, then, that Artimus - who, by the time of Longstreet's "death", was slated for execution - intended to destabilize the SFMC before he began his master plan of conquest? He knew that Neill was disliked by most of Starfleet, including the returning Admiral Kiran Joshmaul; therefore, Artimus believed that Neill's removal was immiment upon his return. Much to his chagrin, Neill remained in command and eventually regained his reputation with Starfleet, who knew him as a master strategist. The Plan Against Artimus Neill's strategic genius eased his relations with Joshmaul as well, which also complicated Artimus' plans. Working together with Imperial commander-in-exile Kieran Devaneaux, Joshmaul and Neill came up with a plan of action, which involved dispatching General David Highland - who was made a brevet major general in the SFMC - to Reydovan Prime to destabilize Artimus' two-month reign of blood over the Empire. Highland was sent in on an unmarked transport, while Joshmaul worked to ensure that their mission remained a secret. He recruited infiltrators, including Captains Jasmine Blade of Starfleet and Ian Taylor of the Imperial Navy, to feed him information pertaining to Artimus' doings, and that information was fed to the resistance movement against Artimus' rule, and then to Highland himself. It was after hearing that Taylor, along with Imperial Guard commander Alexander Britanov, were captured that Highland made his move on Artimus' citadel, crushing Artimus' personal guard and forcing the dictator into exile. Neill and Highland were each awarded the highest honors each of their leaders could bestow: For Neill, the Medal of Honor from President Mikhail Britanov, and for Highland, the Order of Reydovan from Chancellor Joshua Underwood. Highland also received a Starfleet Marine Cross. Neill was also praised by Starfleet and Federation leaders for taking the initiative rather than waiting for whatever "diplomatic response" (or, as many felt, appeasement) that Britanov's predecessor, Victor Manchester, planned on giving to Artimus' threats of war. The Ides of March Three months later, with Reydovan Prime in a state of constant war, Neill was called upon by now-Emperor Kieran Devaneaux to be the Starfleet mission commander for an invasion of the Imperial Throneworld. Devaneaux was renowned for his keen eye for battlefields, as well as his abilities of compromise; he had managed to gain Starfleet support from President Meriah Broussard in exchange for his aid against the Adiam Pack, should that war arise. It was Neill's strategic genius, coupled with the experience and determination of the three Starfleet captains and the other Marine commander, General Ross, and the abilities of their crews that won the day. By day's end, Montagne Noire had fallen to allied hands, and the final push was made on Castle Devaneaux itself. While Neill and his men fought Artimus' defenders, Kiran Joshmaul, accompanied by some of the Corps' best men, infiltrated Castle Devaneaux and managed to set the Omega reactor powering the station to safely destabilize - safely, meaning not incinerating half the galaxy...just Castle Devaneaux itself. Once the battle around the Castle was over, Neill and his men returned to their ships, where they waited anxiously for the battle between Artimus and Joshmaul, Underwood and Kieran to conclude. When the Emperor struck the killing blow against his father, zealots in the lower levels set off explosives, trying to trap the three men in Artimus' inner sanctum, high at the top of the tower. Working along with Captain Tokugawa of the Prestigious, Neill managed to get the three men safely out of Castle Devaneaux before Joshmaul detonated the Omega reactor. The Trial of Rachel Vantine in April 2376, Rachel Vantine, formerly chief medical officer of the starship Shadowcat - where Neill's son Ross was assigned - was arrested and charged with treason against the Federation. Neill knew that because Vantine was seen as a "dog lover" (a derogatory term referring to the canine appearance of the Adiam race, the primary race of the Pack), her life was in danger. He suspected the xenophobe Solicitor General, Captain Dawson Crenshaw, was planning to assassinate Vantine, either personally or using one of his agents. On April 11, 2376, Neill expressed his concerns to Fleet Admiral James Travis, the C-in-C of Starfleet. The General recommended that Starfleet Headquarters and the city of San Francisco, along with The Hague in the Netherlands, where the trial was being held, be placed under tight Marine security. Travis agreed, and Neill ordered General Ross to deploy his division accordingly, with the First Brigade under Anatoliy Britanov serving as guards at Starfleet Headquarters, and a Marine detail on each member of Starfleet Command - including a double detail for Travis himself and Kiran Joshmaul, who was seen as a prime target due to his support of Dr. Vantine. In addition, Neill personally volunteered to act as Dr. Vantine's escort to and from the courtroom, and on April 14 went to where Vantine was being held in the detention center at Starfleet Security, near Starfleet Headquarters. With the authority granted to him by the C-in-C, the General ordered General Ross to personally take over security at the detention center and replace Crenshaw's agents, over his angry protests. Once they were alone, Neill explained to Dr. Vantine and her husband, Chirann Koresh, his intentions and his suspicion that the Solicitor General had ulterior motives. He believed in Vantine's innocence and, while suspicious, Chirann seemed to believe that Neill was acting with good intentions. Over a month later, Neill and his nephew, General Ross, decided to dangle some bait in front of the Solicitor General in order to test a theory. Beaming Vantine to his command ship, the Shenandoah, Neill ordered Ross to lie in wait while Crenshaw made his move into Vantine's cell. A holographic Vantine - looking clearly terrified - was projected into a holo-decoy of the cell, in order to obscure Ross until Crenshaw made his move. When it came to deceiving his enemies, Neill was the acknowledged master - and the treacherous Solicitor General did not realize it until it was too late. Crenshaw was arrested and beamed to the Shenandoah, where he is being held in high security in the brig until his trial. Dr. Vantine remains in VIP quarters until she is ready to return to the Adiam homeworld of Teryll, the capital of the Pack, with her husband Chirann. The Defileron War During the invasion of Earth in June-August 2376, Neill was taken out of the fighting on the first day when the Omega-charged beam of the Hand of Joshmaul space station all but incinerated the Shenandoah, causing her saucer section to fly through the atmosphere and crash into San Francisco Bay, coming to rest right next to the shuttle terminal at Starfleet Headquarters. Jonathan Ross took over command of the SFMC as the senior-most officer still alive, while Neill recuperated from his injuries. By the time the siege ended in August, Neill had sufficiently recovered enough to resume command of the Corps. In November, Neill was the senior advisor to Emperor Kieran, who served as supreme commander of the coalition of the Federation, the Reydovan Empire and the Gorak'nar Commonwealth, during the Battle of Defileron. He received a brand-new Sovereign-class vessel which was rechristened Shenandoah, and it remained his flagship for many more years. Neill joined Kieran in the attack on Demon-Kieran's citadel, finally crushing the resistance to their attack. Later Years, and the Chancellorship Neill served as the commanding general of the Starfleet Marine Corps for another nine years, spent rebuilding the Corps from the ravages of war. He retired in 2385 to return to Reydovan Prime, to serve as Defense Minister to Emperor Kieran. In 2391, he was promoted to Marshal of the Reydovan Empire following the death of Matthew Russell, and appointed the Warmaster of the Reydovan Military Body. Upon his appointment, Neill replaced the title of Warmaster with the more accurate "Supreme Commander". He served in that capacity for over a decade, before retiring to rejoin the Council of Nobles as the Count of Easthaven. The rank of Marshal of the Reydovan Empire is permanent in the Imperial military, and can only be held by one living man at a time. In 2406, following the death of Emperor Kieran I, he became a chief advisor to the new Emperor Kieran II, at the suggestion of Joshua Underwood. The new Emperor immediately called for Chancellorial elections upon his coronation, and Neill was elected in a landslide. Opposition Once in office as Chancellor, Marshal Neill began issuing policies that - with support from the Emperor (though some would call it blackmail) - began curtailing the freedoms of the Reydovan people. Dissenters were arrested, tried in kangaroo courts and executed as traitors. The Emperor - due to his relative inexperience - was forced against the wall, but he was able to overtly aid in the election of a strong dissenting voice, who used nonviolence to protest Neill's policies - the Governor-General of Reydovan Prime, Baron August von Spee, leader of the Black Rose movement. The Baron outranked Neill in the Council of Nobles, but with Neill holding the Chancellery, directly opposing him would spell disaster. While tolerant of each other in public, Neill and Spee are headed towards a confrontation that may either force the Emperor to have Neill removed from office, or end Spee's political career...and potentially his life. Disgraced On October 24, 2406, Marshal Neill led an ill-advised and ultimately failed campaign across to Federation Space, to aid the Federation during the ongoing Mirror Universe Crisis. As the Grand Fleet of the Chancellor approached the Korolev Expanse, however, they were ambushed by the Harbingers, led by the Chancellor's exiled elder brother, Ethan. The skirmish between them became known as the Battle of the Korolev Expanse. Ethan proved to be a superior tactician - feinting against the forward position of the Grand Fleet with his carriers and their fighter compliments, and fold-jumping his capital ships behind the Imperials as the hammer to the anvil. The Grand Fleet was completely annihilated, and the Marshal - knocked unconscious by his rebelling command crew and taken into the commander's escape pod of his command ship - was given the blame. Confronted by the Emperor and his advisor, Joshua Underwood, Neill was stripped of his rank and titles; it was only intervention by Underwood himself that prevented him from losing his head. The leadership of the House of Neill was taken from him, and will be given to the elder child, Ethan - correcting a wrong done by Daniel Neill thirty-five years earlier. Neill was succeeded as Chancellor by his political rival, August von Spee. In a characteristic act of mercy, Spee pardoned Neill, restored his ranks, and named him Defense Minister - a ceremonial position, but one that would satiate Neill's ego. Medals and Awards Neill has made his own contributions to Starfleet in his distinguished service. Starfleet Service *Federation Medal of Honor, awarded by President Mikhail Britanov for role in toppling the government of Artimus Devaneaux and preserving the peace, 2376 *Silver Star (three), Battle of Deep Space Nine, 2374; Siege of Earth and Battle of Defileron, 2376 *Marine Cross, Battle of Cardassia, 2375 *Legion of Merit, Battle of Korolev Prime, 2373 *Defense Superior Service Medal (two), Battle of Reydovan Prime and Battle of Defileron, 2376 *Bronze Star (two), Battle of Reydovan Prime and Battle of Defileron, 2376 *Purple Heart (four), Second Battle of Chin'Toka, 2374; Battle of Cardassia, 2375; Siege of Earth and Battle of Defileron, 2376 *Distinguished Service Cross (two), Dominion War, 2372-2375; Defileron War, 2376 *Combat Bar, Dominion War, 2372-2375 *Dominion War Campaign Ribbon, 2372-2375 *Defileron War Campaign Ribbon, 2376 Reydovan Empire Service *Medallion of the Chancellor, 2406 *Order of Reydovan (four), Battle of Belle Terre 2350 (revoked by Emperor Joshmaul 2372, restored by Emperor Kieran I 2377), Battle of Reydovan Prime 2376, Battle of Defileron 2376, appointment as Chancellor 2406 *Order of the Emperor's Fist, 2350 *Imperial Medal of Valor (four), 2349, 2373, 2385, 2391 *Imperial Iron Cross (three), Battle of Belle Terre 2350, Battle of Reydovan Prime 2376, Battle of Defileron 2376 *Star of Reydovan, 2391 Dates of Rank Advancing fairly quickly for an Imperial officer, Neill began as a private in the Imperial Marine Corps on June 15, 2318. He retired from Imperial service at the rank of General in 2372, and joined the Starfleet Marine Corps at the rank of Lieutenant General. He returned to Reydovan service in 2385 and was promoted to Marshal of the Reydovan Empire by Emperor Kieran in 2391. *Enlisted at rank of Private, June 15, 2318 *Gunnery Sergeant, October 11, 2321 *Commissioned as Second Lieutenant, April 4, 2322 *First Lieutenant, November 29, 2326 *Marine Captain, June 21, 2328 *Major, January 20, 2334 *Lieutenant Colonel, December 24, 2340 *Colonel, December 7, 2346 *Brigadier General, April 15, 2349 *Major General, June 5, 2349 *Lieutenant General, July 1, 2349 *General, October 11, 2366 *Lieutenant General (Starfleet Marine Corps), May 1, 2372 *General and Commandant, March 16, 2375 *Institutes 5-star rank (Commanding General), March 17, 2375 *Returns to Reydovan service at rank of Marshal, 2385 *Marshal of the Reydovan Empire, 2391 Family Neill has two sons. *Ross Joseph, Starfleet Marine lieutenant colonel (2328-) *Jeremiah Robert, Jr., Starfleet Marine major (2334-2375?) Neill, Jeremiah Neill, Jeremiah